henris's reviews

  • Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II

    6 out of 10 points and recommended
    cheap, lightweight
    AF slow, sometimes inaccurate

    This is good for a cheap lens. I couldn't use my 50 1.8 for many shots. I've owned it for three years and found that I could only take some close-up shots to my satisfaction.

    reviewed November 25th, 2006 (purchased for $80)
  • Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM

    8 out of 10 points and recommended
    zoom range is flexible, IS, quality "L" construction
    only 2 stop IS, zoom nopt smooth after a while

    I loved this lens! It got stolen last month, but was quickly becoming a favorite. Great for birding and wildlife. Ultimate zoo lens!

    Too slow for indoor shots.

    reviewed November 25th, 2006 (purchased for $1,200)
  • Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM

    9 out of 10 points and recommended
    zoom range, IS, construction
    f/4

    I love this lens! After having my gear stolen last month, this is the only lens that was stolen that I repurchased. Great zoom range. 24mm might be too long on a crop body, but I love it on my 30D. It's wide enough for me.

    reviewed November 25th, 2006 (purchased for $1,200)
  • Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM

    9 out of 10 points and recommended
    IS, fast 2.8, good for sports and my marching band
    I am sometimes wishing for more range, price

    I've always wanted this lens, and bought it last month. Terrific quality! Great wide open, and even better after stopping down. I wish I had bought this earlier!

    I've taken great shots of my marching band under stadium lighting, and they turned out fantastic.

    I owned a 70-200 f/4 in the past, and hardly used it. Now, I use the 2.8IS all the time. IS lenses spoil me!

    reviewed November 25th, 2006 (purchased for $1,599)
  • Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L USM

    8 out of 10 points and recommended
    lightweight, great color
    f/4 aperture is slow

    I owned this lens and then sold it on ebay. It was good, but I just couldn't like it enough. I eventually got a 2.8 IS version and love it much more.

    I would recommend this lens as a lightweight or traveling telephoto lens.

    reviewed November 25th, 2006 (purchased for $600)
  • Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 USM

    6 out of 10 points and not recommended
    light, cheap
    flimsy, not a good lens wide open, manual focus ring a joke

    This lens came bundled with my old 300D, so it was a good starter lens for me. I kept the thing stopped down at 7.1 or f/8 most of the time, so things came out pretty good most of the time. Any larger apertures would result in softness. Don't even think about manual focusing with this thing.

    reviewed November 25th, 2006
  • Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 EX DG HSM APO

    7 out of 10 points and recommended
    cheaper than canon version, comes with a good case, black
    mine was soft wide open, even after recalibration

    I had a bum copy after purchasing new, so I sent it into Sigma to have it repaired. It came back a little better, but was still bad (Not sharp at all at 2.8. It was great at f/4 and above). I found that many people had this problem with several types of sigma lenses (I also had problems with a sigma 30 1.4). I sold it on ebay.

    The only reason I recommend this lens is because of the number of peopl who have received good copies. I have just not had good luck with Sigma Corporation.

    reviewed November 25th, 2006 (purchased for $750)
  • Sigma 30mm f/1.4 EX DC HSM

    5 out of 10 points and not recommended
    cheaper than canon 35 1.4
    mine wasn't sharp at 1.4, could not focus well even after sending to sigma

    My copy was horrible out of the box. It front-focused horribly. I made the decision to send it in to Sigma instead of playing roulette with the mail-order store. I sent it in twice to be fixed, and although it came back a little better, it could not focus at infinity. It produced sharp shots only up to six feet! It is an actual problem that several people have had, if you search other forums. I decuded to cut my losses and sell my lens.

    Although Sigma works for many people out there, my personal experiences have led me never buy Sigma again. I'm sticking with Canon lenses.

    reviewed November 25th, 2006 (purchased for $400)